General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR)

All schools have a legal duty to comply with the GDPR. The law changed and the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) came into effect on 25th May 2018.  It brang about higher standards for handling data and greater expectations for improved transparency, enhanced data security and increased accountability for processing personal data. 

The new GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is replacing the current Data Protection Act (DPA) and strengthens all data held within an organisation. For schools, GDPR brings a new responsibility to inform parents and stakeholders about how they are using pupils’ data and who it is being used by.

What GDPR mean for schools, parents and carers

GDPR ensures that children’s data used and held in school is protected and gives individuals more control over their data. It also means that schools have a  greater accountability for the data:

• Under GDPR, consent must be explicitly given to anything that isn’t within the normal business of the school, especially if it involves a third party managing the data. Parents (or the pupil themselves depending on their age) must express consent for their child’s data to be used outside of the normal business of the school.
• Schools must appoint a Data Protection Officer and be able to prove that they are GDPR compliant.
• Schools must ensure that their third party suppliers who may process any of their data is GDPR compliant and must have legally binding contracts with any company that processes any personal data. These contracts must cover what data is being processed, who it is being processed by, who has access to it and how it is protected.
• It will be compulsory that all data breaches which are likely to have a detrimental effect on the data subject are reported to the ICO within 72 hours

As it is in the public interest to operate schools successfully, a great deal of the processing of personal data undertaken by schools will fall under a specific legal basis, ‘in the public interest’.  This means that specific consent will not be needed in the majority of cases in schools.

Data Protection Officer

The Data Protection Officer is responsible for overseeing data protection within the School so if you do have any questions in this regard, please do contact them on the information below: -

Data Protection Officer: Craig Stilwell

Company: Judicium Consulting Ltd

Address: 72 Cannon Street, London, EC4N 6AE

Email: dataservices@judicium.com

Telephone: 0203 326 9174